Post navigation

Micro Earths – Exploring a Sustainable Future

Following completion of The Expedition trilogy, I thought you might be interested to know how the human-powered circumnavigation segues into the next project: Micro Earths.

Throughout the journey I was dogged by a single burning question, one I feel we all have a moral duty to try and answer for the sake of future generations: How do you live your life so you’re part of the solution to a sustainable future, not part of the problem?

For the water sections of Expedition 360 we used a tiny boat (Moksha) powered by pedals to cross the Atlantic (111 days), Pacific (178 days) and Arabian Sea (54 days). With only 24 square feet (4x8ft) of living space, our world shrank around us, and performing even basic tasks like cooking, washing clothes, or going to the toilet proved a challenge.

We also became acutely aware of the finite limits of our floating universe. At sea for months on end, we learnt how to conserve water, food, energy, and other essential resources to survive. In short, we either adapted to the confines of our closed system or risked running out of resources and not making it.

The secret to responsible living on a crowded planet, I realized, was learning how to survive on a small boat. But that’s not something many people can relate to. Along the circumnavigation route we also encountered small, isolated communities that not only survive but thrive within finite constraints. The objective, therefore, is to return to these Micro Earths and unearth timeless sustainability lessons we can learn from in complex but unsustainable societies. This universal knowledge, aimed at countries fulfilling their COP21 Paris Accord commitments to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, will centre around 7 principles for a sustainable future.